The gelatinous elastomer material used in the present invention is fully disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,369,284, 4,618,213, 5,262,468, 5,336,708, and 5,508,334, (the inventor in each patent is Chen) which are hereby incorporated by reference herein. These patents disclose the various embodiments of the gelatinous elastomer material. This gel material has many attributes that are sufficiently set forth in the cited patents. However, the gel material has some problems. One such problem occurs when a parallel force is applied to the gel material. The parallel force pushes the gel material so it slides and gathers as a compressed state.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,708, Chen discloses a gelatinous elastomer composite article. These articles, as disclosed by Chen, “include: GMG, MGM, MG1G2M, M1M2G1G2, M2M1G1G2, G1MG1G2, MG1G2, G1G2M, G2G1M, GM1M2G, G1M1G2M2M1, M1GM2GM3GM4, (sic) ect, where G=gel and M=material. The subscript 1, 2, 3, and 4 are different and are represented by n which is a positive number. The material (M) suitable for forming composite articles with the gelatinous elastomer compositions can include foam, plastic fabric, metal, concrete, wood, wire screen, refractory material, glass, synthetic resin, synthetic fibers, and the like. Sandwiches of gel/material . . . are ideal for use as shock absorbers, acoustical isolators, vibration dampers, vibration isolators and wrappers. For example the vibration isolators can be (sic) use under research microscopes, office equipment, tables, and the like to remove background vibrations.” U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,708, col. 3, lines 35-51. Chen further discloses, “generally the molten gelatinous elastomer composition will adhere sufficiently to certain plastics (e.g., acrylic, ethylene copolymers, nylon, polybutylene, polycarbonate, polystyrene, polyester, polyethylene, polypropylene, styrene copolymers, and the like) provided the temperature of the molten gelatinous elastomer composition is (sic) sufficient high to fuse or nearly fuse with the plastic. In order to obtain sufficient adhesion to glass, ceramics, or certain metals, sufficient temperature is also required (e.g., above 250° F. [121° C.]).” U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,708, col. 9, lines 8-18 (emphasis added and brackets added for consistency of temperature comparison).
Chen provides antecedent basis for the phrase “the molten gelatinous elastomer composition” by defining it as follows: “the gelatinous elastomer composition of the present invention are prepared by blending together the components including other additives as desired at about 23° C. (73.4° F.) to about 100° C. (212° F.) forming a paste like mixture and further heating said mixture uniformly to about 150° C. (302° F.) to about 200° C. (392° F.) until a homogeneous molten blend is obtained.” U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,708, col. 6, lines 52-58 (parenthesis added for consistency of temperature comparison). As such, the term “molten” has the standard definition of “1 a obs: formed in a mold: cast b: fused or liquefied by heat: melted.” Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged 1456 (1966). In other words, the process to fabricate the gelatinous elastomer composite article requires the gelatinous elastomer material be in a melted state and formed upon the material (M). The resulting product, as illustrated in FIGS. 2a-2c, is the gelatinous elastomer material, G, lying on or within the material, M. In no instance does the gelatinous elastomer material of Chen penetrate through a first material, M1, to contact a second material, M2, underlying the first material (M). Likewise Chen fails to disclose an underlying second material, M2, that penetrates through a first material, M1, to contact a gelatinous elastomer material.
In some instances, two gelatinous articles must be joined together. Prior to this invention, articles, 102a and 102b, were merely attached along a respective side 104a, 104b of each article 102a, 102b. In many instances, the articles are attached with a common adhesive 106 to form an elongated article 108, as shown in FIG. 4 (prior art).
As shown in FIG. 5, when a person 110 lies on the elongated article 108, the article 108 is excessively rigid along the sides 104a, 104b. It is well known that the sides 104a, 104b are not structurally equivalent to the remainder of the article 108. As such, the elongated article 108 is uncomfortable to the person 110.
A problem to solve is to fabricate an elongated gelatinous article that provides equivalent structural properties when a person lies on the article. The present invention solves this problem.